On the possibility of vacuum QED measurements with gravitational wave detectors

Grote, H.

doi:10.1103/physrevd.91.022002

Cited by 22 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Polarization-modulation is a possible approach [33,34], but systematics-free polarimetry with a necessary sensitivity is yet to be demonstrated. An interesting idea [35][36][37] involves adding magnets to the arms of a gravitational-wave detector such as VIRGO, taking advantage of the existing ultrahigh-precision optical interferometers at these facilities.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High magnetic fields for fundamental physics

et al. 2018

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Various fundamental-physics experiments such as measurement of the birefringence of the vacuum, searches for ultralight dark matter (e.g., axions), and precision spectroscopy of complex systems (including exotic atoms containing antimatter constituents) are enabled by high-field magnets. We give an overview of current and future experiments and discuss the state-of-the-art DCand pulsed-magnet technologies and prospects for future developments. * Electronic address: budker@uni-mainz.de †

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High magnetic fields for fundamental physics

et al. 2018

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“…However, it might be possible to considerably enhance the sensitivity by using time-dependent background fields, rather than the static fields we have considered for our numerical estimates. For the case of testing the Heisenberg-Euler theory with an interferometer of the size of a gravitational wave detector, this possibility was discussed in detail recently by Grote [18]. The idea is to change the background field periodically with a frequency ω, e.g.…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing nonlinear vacuum electrodynamics with Michelson interferometry

2015

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We discuss the theoretical foundations for testing nonlinear vacuum electrodynamics with Michelson interferometry. Apart from some nondegeneracy conditions to be imposed, our discussion applies to all nonlinear electrodynamical theories of the Plebański class, i.e., to all Lagrangians that depend only on the two Lorentz-invariant scalars quadratic in the field strength. The main idea of the experiment proposed here is to use the fact that, according to nonlinear electrodynamics, the phase velocity of light should depend on the strength and on the direction of an electromagnetic background field. There are two possible experimental setups for testing this prediction with Michelson interferometry. The first possibility is to apply a strong electromagnetic field to the beam in one arm of the interferometer and to compare the situation where the field is switched on with the situation where it is switched off. The second possibility is to place the whole interferometer in a strong electromagnetic field and to rotate it. If an electromagnetic field is placed in one arm, the interferometer could have the size of a gravitational wave detector, i.e., an arm length of several hundred meters. If the whole interferometer is placed in an electromagnetic field, one would have to do the experiment with a tabletop interferometer. As an alternative to a traditional Michelson interferometer, one could use a pair of optical resonators that are not bigger than a few centimeters. Then the whole apparatus would be placed in the background field and one would either compare the situation where the field is switched on with the situation where it is switched off or one would rotate the apparatus with the field kept switched on. We derive the theoretical foundations for these types of experiments, in the context of an unspecified nonlinear electrodynamics of the Plebański class, and we discuss their feasibility. A null result of the experiment would place bounds on the parameters of the theory. We specify the general results to some particular theories of the Plebański class; in particular, we give numerical estimates for Born, Born-Infeld and Heisenberg-Euler theories.

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“…Due to their excellent sensitivity at or beyond quantum limits, gravitational-wave detectors (or precision interferometers of a similar type) can be used directly for fundamental physics, without the mediation of gravitational waves. Examples include a possible search for vacuum birefringence [12] and the search for signatures of quantum gravity [13][14][15]. Several ideas have been put forward as to how different candidates of dark matter can directly couple to gravitational-wave detectors, ranging from scalar field dark matter [4,16] to dark photon dark matter [17], and to clumpy dark matter coupling gravitationally or through an additional Yukawa force [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct limits for scalar field dark matter from a gravitational-wave detector

Grote

Vermeulen

Relton

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The nature of dark matter remains unknown to date and several candidate particles are being considered in a dynamically changing research landscape [1]. Scalar field dark matter is a prominent option that is being explored with precision instruments such as atomic clocks and optical cavities [2-8]. Here we report on the first direct search for scalar field dark matter utilising a gravitational-wave detector operating beyond the quantum shot-noise limit. We set new upper limits for the coupling constants of scalar field dark matter as a function of its mass by excluding the presence of signals that would be produced through the direct coupling of this dark matter to the beamsplitter of the GEO600 interferometer. The new constraints improve upon bounds from previous direct searches by more than six orders of magnitude and are more stringent than limits obtained in tests of the equivalence principle by one order of magnitude. Our work demonstrates that scalar field dark matter can be probed or constrained with direct searches using gravitational-wave detectors and highlights the potential of quantum-enhanced interferometry for dark matter detection.

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On the possibility of vacuum QED measurements with gravitational wave detectors

Cited by 22 publications

References 28 publications

High magnetic fields for fundamental physics

High magnetic fields for fundamental physics

Testing nonlinear vacuum electrodynamics with Michelson interferometry

Direct limits for scalar field dark matter from a gravitational-wave detector

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